The invention relates to a dispenser for media which may be liquid, pasty, powdery and/or gaseous. Hollow or shell-shaped or all components of the dispenser may be made of plastics or injection-molded. The dispenser is intended to be held and simultaneously actuated for discharge single-handedly so that pharmaceutical, cosmetic, technical or other media can be simply applied.
Object of the invention is to provide a dispenser which avoids the drawbacks of known configurations and which more particularly permits changes in location between two basic bodies for adapting to individual requirements. According to another object of the invention, each location as set is required to be captive and expediently thereafter reversible. The means for changing locations are also intended for being retrofitted to existing dispensers. The dispenser is intended to be simple in configuration, safe in operation and convenient to handle.
The dispenser comprises two basic bodies which are separate parts or integral. Furthermore, the dispenser comprises a pliant portion, e.g. a joint which connects the basic bodies and which may be configured integral with one or both basic bodies or which may be a separate component. Furthermore, a cavity or passage is provided passing through at least one of the basic bodies or the pliant connection and which may be a cavity or passage having no throughflow in dispenser operation, through which a fluid such as the medium flows.
In accordance with the invention means are provided by which movements of the second basic body relative to the first basic body deform, e.g. curve or angle the cavity in the region of the pliant connection. This enables changes in the cross-section of the cavity to be achieved in altering corresponding properties of the dispenser.
The movements may be torsional or bending movements which alter the cross-sections of the cavity to a length which is maximally as large as 3 or 2 times the width of the cavity. The latter may thus change its cross-section in the jointing portion thereby, namely not only the cross-section shape but also the cross-section surface area of the passage within tight limits.
Expediently during discharge of the medium a finger-rest is accessible with which the basic bodies can be shifted relative to each other at any time in thereby deforming the pliant connection. Although the latter could be located partly or totally within a medium pump or a reservoir, it is expediently provided outside thereof in the region of a head which serves manual actuation of the pump or for discharging the medium through a delivery orifice. This enables the delivery orifice or its axis to be changed in location relative to the basic body or body of the pump without implementing a discharge stroke.
Although cross-sectionally the passage may be circular, it preferably deviates therefrom, e.g. by the cross-section becoming oblate, such as oval. The narrower sides of the cross-section are thereby penetrated by the axis of the joint and may be defined by wall sections comprising a thickness which is different, e.g. smaller, than that of the wall sections which define the longitudinal sides of the cross-section.
The pliant connection is expediently guided by a separate guide such as a joint or other sliding guide in thus precisely, e.g. positively, defining the pliant connection and not being solely dependent on the inherent mechanical response of the connection. The members of the joint may be radially spaced away from the cavity or passage section so that gaps are formed in between and the passage section may be curved like the free section of a flexible tube.
In a further embodiment of the invention the pliant passage section is shorter by 7 or 5 times its largest width so that little space is taken up. Adjoining the ends of this section are dimensionally rigid sections suitable for connecting adjoining parts of the dispenser, e.g. forming nipple-type connectors.
Although the pliant connection is suitable for a riser via which the medium flows from a reservoir into a pump or valve body, it is more particularly particularly suitable for being arranged outside of the body or reservoir.
These and further features read not only from the claims but also from the description and the drawings, it being understood that each of the individual features may be achieved by itself or in combination in the form of sub-assemblies in an embodiment of the invention or in other fields and may represent advantageous aspects as well as aspects worthy of being protected in their own right and for which protection is claimed herein.